Eyes and Ears
Founded by a fellow artist from Brighton University, Maria Awantura began a series of live art and music events in the grassroots music scene in Brighton to engage their synethesia with their art practice more, having put together 2 events before we even gave it a name, both being fundraisers for Charity. These events allow painters to create art alongside a live music performance by some of our favourite local alt-rock bands, with a fine artist being paired with each band. Ryan Poulter was brought onto the team and helped give these events a name and a look with her poster designs, giving it the name ‘Eyes and Ears’. Since the conception of this name the event turned into a collaborative project that brought on many artists and musicians, allowing for a way for these two mediums of art to interact. As a fine artist I found this a brilliant oppourtunity to engage in some kind of performative aspect of art- although i am typically a very tedious and focused painter, working best in a more reclusive environment, these events were a great oppourtunity to come out of my shell and engage the music I love with my art.
The first event under this name was on Janurary the 29th 2025, were I painted for the band Ragdoll, in the grassroots venue Greendoor Store. The event was a massive succsess, attratcting a large and energetic crowd, with performances from Sick Days (painted by Hayley Paterson), Ragdoll, Bones ate Arfa (painted by Maria Awantura) and Goetia (painted by Ryan Poulter).
The second event was on the 26th of march, in Greendoor’s sister venue Rossi Bar. Due to restricitons at this venue, we could not paint, but this just allowed for a different approach for us fine artists- I drew for Saftey Jacket’s set. The intimate size of this venue made the event something quite special, as the crowd was closer to each other and the bands, the music venue being in the bar’s basement. The performances were by Modessa (drawn by Joe Zillwood), a one man performance by George from Saftey Jacket, and BABYTEETH (drawn by Maria Awantura).
The third event under this name was also our last as university students, being partially a farewell event to Maria as they left for Poland, on the 26th July 2025. Back in Greendoor Store now, I painted for FAT LLOYD, and I beleive this painting was were I really started to find my style with these events, the peice itself being inspired by my painting ‘INTROSPECTION’ that i had finished a few months before. Maria and Ryan put together our largest lineup yet for these events, consisting of FAT LLOYD, Crowd (painted by Joe Zillwood), Saftey Jacket (painted by Maria Awantura), Bones ate Arfa (painted by Ryan Poulter) and Ragdoll (painted by Maria Awantura).
This event was also done under our new collective name of the ‘Electrik Toothbrushes’. If you follow that link, you will be able to follow us to see any updates on more events in the future. We found our place in the brighton music scene, and getting to put on these events allowed us to express ourselves artistically both through the music we adore and in our modes of creating. Finding oppourtunities to intergrate myself as an artist into alternative and grassroots scenes such as this is a dream.
If you are interested in these events or our collective as an artist yourself, we welcome you to get in contact with us at electriktoothbrushes@gmail.com